Where Is The Ammonia Spike?

[guppylad]

Hi everyone!

I recently found this forum and was introduced to the concept of fishless cycling! Wow - sounds a fantastic way to ensure your fish are healthy.

Thing is, my brother in law recently emigrated and gave me his 300 litre tank - I know, a hell of a size of tank for a beginner.

He didn't say anything about fishless cycling - and since then I've asked him and he said he always just added fish straight away.

I started up the tank about 2 months ago. 2 weeks later I added my first fish - 6 guppies. Since then at 10 day to 2 week intervals I've added a few more.

At every single stage the water readings have always been zero both for ammonia and nitrite - with just a trace of nitrate. That always led me to believe it was safe to add more fish.

I now have: 6 guppies, 8 neon cardinals, 3 cory catfish and 6 tiny little fellas who are related to guppies.

As I say, the zero readings always made me think it was ok to add more fish. BUT - I have since stumbled upon this forum and been introduced to the concept of fishless cycling.

My question is, having added these fish at intervals, shouldn't I be seeing a rise in ammonia, soon to be followed by a rise in nitrite?

Are the readings zero because the tank is so large the waste is just not registering as ammonia? Or is it doing some sort of gradul cycle?

If I'd known all this to start with I'd have done the whole household ammonia cycle to start with. I really hope I don't see the ammonia rocketing soon which would harm my fish. But then again I'm really puzzled why I'm not seeing any ammonia at all.

For the record - it's a 300 litre tank. I'm using liquid tests. Ammonia and nitrite always zero. Nitrate just a trace. PH is just above 7.

Any and all advice much appreciated!

 

[tom130691]

the filter may have already been cycled? or was the tank shut down completely

and the fish you have will be young and not be producing much waste considering the tank size (ppm= parts per million)

 

[mattlee]

Hi,

was the tank already running with fish when you got it or was it left dry for a while?

the reason i ask is if it was a running tank and you set it up straight away then the filter will already be cycled but if it was left dry without any fish then the bacteria in the filter will have died off...



beat me to it tom

 

[guppylad]

Tank was completely dry and empty when I took it on - thanks!

When the fish get older and bigger, should I expect to see a (dangerous) ammonia/nitrite spike then?

 

[chrisbassist]

few more questions:
how often and what percentage are you doing water changes?
how old are the tests?

if your water changes are regular enough, it's possible that the amounts being produced are too low to be detected by your tests, it's also possible that your filter has cycled after 2 months, which just means when you add more fish, thefilter can cope with the additions within 24 hours. It's also possible that your tests (if you got them off the in-law) might have passed expiration date and can't be trusted...

if you could answer those 2 questions maybe we can figure out which it is.

 

[guppylad]

I've been doing water changes every 10-14 days of around 20 percent

The ammonia test is about 6 months old, though I bought the nitrite test when I took on the tank, so it's pretty much new

Could the tank really have cycled in that time without me ever seeing any ammonia or nitrite?

Thanks!

 

[walkers101]

how long was the tank dry? a day or 2 if so the bacteria would still have survived

 

[chrisbassist]

Hmm. I would say double check your readings by getting sn lfs to do tests for you. Just to be sure.

And the bacteria numbers for such few fish could have built up in that time. And because of how big the tank is the spikes could have been pretty diluted.

Just my theory, but 2 months is def long enough.

Anyway my advice would be double check your tests at an lfs, if you find any major differences think abou upgrading that test of yours. If things are confirmed then keep going as you are adding fish nice and slowly

 

[Curiosity101]

Do you know what is in the filter you're using?
The fact you said you're only getting trace nitrates is either cause A) The bioload is small or B) Your tank isn't cycled

I reckon you may well have experienced a practically silent cycle due to such a tiny bioload in such a large tank. But just want to make sure you dont have zeolite in the filter. Zeolite soaks up ammonia stopping any bacteria from developing until one day it becomes saturated and you end up with a large ammonia spike.

 

[Benunited]

Tank had been dry for a good few weeks - maybe a couple of months. Even the filter sponges (it's a juwel 260) were new when I started from fresh.

The only things that weren't brand new were some pieces of bogwood which had been dry and out of a mate's tank for over a year and a couple of fake plants straight out of another mate's 30 litre tank which is fully functioning and fully cycled. From what I've read, while these plants would help the cycle process, given their sizes and the size of my tank, they won't have made much difference?

Thanks!

 

[Curiosity101]

Ah I just had a read. Did you stick a 'Nitrate absorber' sponge into the filter? If so this will explain your low nitrate level. If I were you I'd remove it and test your tanks nitrates in a few days to see if it's increased.

 

[chrisbassist]

No, fake plant won't havehelped. Although real ones would have.

 

[roadmaster]

Given the size of the tank ,approx 80 Us gallons,and the relatively low bioload combined with the intervals between new fish,It is possible that the tank has matured without harmful ammonia and nitrites reaching dangerous levels. Would were it me,,continue with present stocking both in numbers of fish added at one time,and intervals in between new additions.
As tank becomes more populated,,I would consider weekly water changes rather than every two weeks.

 

[Benunited]

Hi Curiosity101

The filters sponges are

- 2x standard
- 1x carbon
- 1x Polypad
- 1x nitrate removal

If I remove the nitrate sponge, would I expect to see spikes in nitrate AND ammonia and nitrite?

If so, would this not be a bad thing?

And does the above mean I have zeolite in my filter?

Thanks!!

Me again!

I can see some of you reckon the tank may have matured/cycled already, without me seeing any ammonia or nitrite spikes.

If this is the case, is this not quite rare?

If I was starting again, I can see I should have done a fishless cycle - but does my experience mean sometimes it IS possible to do a harmless fish-in cycle? (Not that I'd do it again!)

 

[guppylad]

Whoops! My flatmate also posts on this forum (he introduced me to it and the concept of fishless cycling)

Seems he was on here earlier and when I posted I posted under his username by mistake.

Anyhow, any further advice much appreciated!